Musical instruction blocks



G. DELA PARELLE. MUSICAL IIIIsIIIucTIoNLBLocKs.

APPLICATION FILED IuNEzI. 192x. K

Patented 00h10, 1922.

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TW//L/ /fL Patented Oct. 10, 1922.

UNITED STATES y GRACE DE LA PARELLE, or EAGLE ROCK, CALIFORNIA.

MUSICAL INSTRUCTION BLOCKS.

` Application filed Jun', 1921. Serial No. 480,740.

To all fio/1.0m t may concern.'

Belt known that I, GRACE DE LA PARELLE,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Eagle Rock, Los Angeles County, California, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Musical Instruction Blocks, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

My invention relates generally to new and useful improvements in musical instruction devices and more particularly to a relatively simple and practical apparatus, including a set of blocks or `cards that are adapted to be 'assembled upon a suitable holder for the purpose of imparting to persons making use of the device, a certain degree of knowledge relating to music, its arrangement and characters.

The principal objects of my vinvention are to provide a relatively simple musical instruction device, that may be easily and cheaply produced and which, in addition to affording instruction to beginners in music, will serve asa novel, interesting and instructive rpastime for children and particularly those who are in any degree interested in music. y

lith the foregoing and other objects in view, my invention consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts that. will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a plan view of a musical instruction device of my improved construction.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section taken on theline 2 2 of Fig. 1.

`Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross section taken on the line 3 8 of Fig. 1 and showing the device in position upon the music ledge of a piano.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one of the musical character bearing blocks forming a part of the device.

' Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a printed card or strip that forms a part of the device.

Referring by numerals to the accompanyn ing drawings which illustrate a practical embodiment of my invention, 10 and 11 designate the parts of a shallow pan or holder, said parts being connected to each other by means ofheadedrivets 12 seated inthe sidewalls of one member` and pass ing through longitudinal slots 13 that are formed in the corresponding walls of the opposite member. Such arrangement enables the holder to be adjusted in length so as to correspond to the length of the`passage of music that is formed by the character bearing blocks that are positioned within said holder. The shape of the holder is such that it may readily be positioned K upon the `music ledge of a piano or organ as illustrated in Fig.`3.

The character bearing blocks 11i` contemplated by my invention are preferably rectangular in form and they may be composed of wood, cardboard, celluloid, metal, earthenware or any desired material.

The blocks are preferably uniform in size, and appearing'on the face of each block is a series of five transversely disposed parallel lines 15 that are intended to represent the lines of a musical staff, Thus when a series of the blocks are arranged side by side within the holder, the lines 15 cooper,

ate to produce an extended staff. Appearing on the face of each block and at the proper point on the staff lines 15 thereon, is a musical character such as a note, rest, flat, sharp and the like.

In order to enable the users of the device to set the musical notes to the words of a song, elongated strips 16 of wood, cardboard, metal or the like, are provided on their faces with the words of a song` said words and the syllables thereof being arranged in spaces of equal width which are equal to the width of the blocks 14. Thus when a word bearing strip 16 is arranged lengthwise in the lower portion of the holder and a series of the character bearing blocks are positioned above said strip, the notes and characters appearing on said blocks will be disposed directly above the words and the syllables thereof, with the result that the personimaking use of the device will, in a practical manner, gain knowledge of musical characters, their meaning and their relative positions with respect to each other and with respect to the words of a song. Thus it will be seen that I have provided a relatively simple and practical device which may be easily and cheaply produced and which when used or manipulated will provide a novel, interesting and instructive pastime:

It Will be readily understood that minor changes in the size, form and construction or' the various parts of my improved musical instruction blocks may loe made Without departing from the spirit of my invention, the scope of which is set Jforth in the appended claim.

I claim as my invention:

In a musical instruction device, an elongated strip bearing the Words of a song, the syllables thereof being spaced equal distances along Said Strip; and a series of' relatively narrow musical character bearing blocks of uniform width, corresponding to the spacing of the syllables, which blocks are adapted to be Positioned along one edge of said Word bearing strip, With one block positioned above each of the syllables of the Words printed on said elongated strip.

Signed at Los Angeles, California, this 7 th day of J une, 1921.

GRACE DE LA PARELLE. 

